At Black Bear Lake, we place campers in small groups by grade with a camper to staff ratio of 3:1 to 4:1. Campers are supervised by adult Division Leaders, college aged Group Leaders and high school aged Counselors. Activities and electives are run by experienced teachers and coaches.
Electives
Electives are chosen by campers and their parents every Monday online at our website for the following week. Campers go to the same electives every day for the week. Each week, they can choose new electives, the same electives, all sports, all performing arts, or a wide variety of everything! Cubs are assigned a wide variety of elective activities as a group.
Swim Instruction
Cubs, Lower Campers, and Junior Campers have Swim Instruction each day in our 3 heated pools taught by our certified Water Safety Instructors and Lifeguards. Campers are tested on their first day of camp and swim reports are sent home throughout the summer. Those campers in 5th grade and up are not required to participate in swim instruction – they can sign up for swim instruction with their electives, in addition to Swim Team, Scuba Diving, and Junior Lifeguard Training.
Group Choice
Group Choice is a fun daily activity that the group chooses along with their Group Leader. There are over 30 choices each day including sports like GaGa, Volleyball and Kickball and crafts like Lanyard, Keychain Making and Banner Design. Other activities include Flag Football, Dance Dance Revolution, Ultimate Frisbee, Playground and Sandbox.
Lunch
Lunch is served in our Air-Conditioned Dining Hall. A hot lunch is served each day along with many additional options including a salad bar, pasta bar, sandwich bar and bagel bar. Campers also have a choice of water or “bug juice” (a camp classic!) to drink. Black Bear Lake only serves trans-fat free meals and all our items are baked, never fried. Campers are also free to get a healthy snack from the Snack Shack throughout the day and are given a refreshing ice cream treat in the afternoon.
All campers have an afternoon Free Swim to cool off. During this time, campers can have free play supervised by our staff. Activities include GaGa, Volleyball, Playground and Sandbox. Campers are allowed to swim for part of the period, then play for part of the period. On very hot days, campers are scheduled an additional free swim to stay cool.
Every day has a fantastic Special Event planned for each division. Events include group bonding games like Scavenger Hunts and Color War, individual contests like Bubble Gum Blowing, Seed Spitting and Foul Shooting, as well as fantastic entertainment from all over the country like Yosi, The Extreme Magic of Eric Wilzig, and The Reptile Guy